john mayer

Haven’t done a Mashup Monday in a hot minute, but the time has come, my friends! Back on my grind, and in need of some good party tunes, so why not turn to mashups, naw mean? Hit the jump for a whole list of the best mashups I could get my hands on.

I watched Walk The Line last night and fell in love with Johnny Cash all over again. I was reminded how much magic a man and his guitar can do. Perfect segue into this morning’s surprise that John Mayer let his guitar do all the work in his cover of Lana Del Rey‘s highly-coveted track, “Video Games.” It’s a completely acoustic track, and it’s really quite beautiful.

John Mayer is such an interesting character in my mind. After he took that break from performing to really learn how to master the guitar, he became an artist who it wasn’t “uncool” to like. But when he was just getting started, I think he was quickly putting himself into a bucket alongside the likes of Coldplay and U2, who might make good music, but it’s just not cool to admit liking their music. Way to dig yourself out of a serious hole, John. #HighFiveBro

Samples are cool when they’re done right. They can range from a producer’s discovery from the unknown basement of Motown history or a refreshing take on a Top 40 song. Recently, producers have looked to speeding up and then increasing the pitch of the chorus of the most popular indie song of the moment. It was cool when RJF did it (and whoever produced this one). But now, it’s gotten annoying, which makes “Burn This Whole Place Down” refreshing. It features a John Mayer sample that you will immediately recognize from those summer roadtrips during your (weirdly) extremely faithful “Mayer phase.” The singer’s voice is actually deepened and maybe even slowed for this track as Dylan drops some honest bars, explaining how he’s dealt with the trials and tribulations of this past year by using music as an emotional outlet.

John Mayer and Wale…interesting duo. I like the concept of this song-written as a letter (of course reminds me of “Stan” by Eminem, though not similar), and to throw John Mayer on the hook adds bonus points! Sounds like classic John Mayer, and though I still think Wale sounds pretty much the same as he always does (no diversity in his flow. Almost ever.), I like this track.